Open Water at Last

The last few days have been particularly stormy. Heavy winds have caused the sea ice to shift, break up and move out. We have been watching it from the hut and are amazed how fast it has occurred. Near the colony most of the ice has left leaving open ocean at the doorstep of the Adelies. There is still a remnant of the winter ice holding onto the rocks of the shore and you can see the penguins will have to jump off to get into the water. In this picture a group of penguins are hesitating to jump as there is a seal just underneath and even though it is not a penguin eater they are wary. A few minutes after the seal left, they all dove in.

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